Tasting Day: Wallonian Nights

Dark Saison after a pour in a Belgian Tulip glass.

Time to taste the new brew – Wallonian Nights.  This is a dark saison that uses dark candi syrup for the color.  I used a Belgian Saison yeast from White Labs.  So let's get to it.

Overview:  Dark Saison brewed with a Belgian yeast strain and dark candi syrup.
OG = 1.068
IBUs = 38
SRM = 28
ABV = 7.6%

Appearance:  Dark black beer that pours a small cream color  head. The head disappears quickly after the pour.  Small lacing is present while drinking the beer.

Smell: It actually has a very clean smell to it. It has a slight pepper smell which you smell in most Saisons. Pretty minimal all around though.

Taste:  I'm not sure what to make of the taste.  I think the color tricks you into what it should taste like.  Its a very clean tasting beer with some nice sweetness and has a bit of the "Belgian" taste from the yeast on the font end. On the backend there is a pepper/alcoholic finish.  The alcohol finish sits in the back of your throat for a while after you finish.

Overall:  It's an interesting beer.  For as crazy as the fermentation was I was expecting some crazy beer.  It's not nearly as complex as I was expecting.  Clean easy drinking beer upfront with some complexity on the back end.  It's still only two weeks in the bottle so maybe it will mature some more in the coming weeks. It's a beer worth exploring some more in future brews.

Cheers.